The video "The Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil" was shown at the Carrington Monday, 17 March, 2008 by BMPN.
Peak Oil is the point where oil prices inexorably go up because of rising production costs due to declining reserves. It has been predicted to hit globally about now, and indeed we are seeing oil prices rising. Since much of our society is based on having cheaply available fuel for transportation, peak oil will affect all of our lives dramatically. So I was interested to see how Cuba coped with the sudden severe drop in the oil that was available to them after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.
The transition was very difficult. For four to five years there were severe food shortages, so much so that some pregnant mothers were malnourished, children were underweight, and the average adult lost about 24 pounds. The government imposed food rationing, thus making sure that everybody got a minimum amount of food. During the ‘Special Period’, as Cubans call it, providing food for survival was an obvious priority.
No longer having access to industrial fertilizer and the fuel to transport farm produce, Cubans began to learn how to garden organically on urban plots in Havana, and on private land that the State released to local groups. They were aided in this by a group of permaculture teachers from Australia. Oxen were reintroduced for plowing; their manure helping to build soil fertility. Agriculture became much more labour intensive, and in time agricultural workers were among the highest paid workers. It took four to five years for soil fertility to build and for ample locally produced fresh vegetables and fruits to be available.
None of this is surprising. Permaculturists and Peak Oil activists have been thinking (and acting) along these lines for years, and the Slow Food Movement is helping people get started with workshops showing people how to grow their own food. http://www.katoombachamber.com/content/view/19/34/.
However, seeing the images of Havana and the on-site interviews with Cubans who had been through the Special Period made the prospect of coping with Peak Oil seem more real. (Roberto Perez was an enthusiastic Cuban permaculturalist featured in the film and he recently visited Australia.)
Cuba's drop in oil availability was sudden. Ours will be a slow decline, and the transition will be affected by the introduction of renewable energy, energy-efficient cars and buildings, and related thrusts towards sustainability. Techno-optimists say we will be okay but others are doubtful. I found myself wishing that people from the NSW Department of Planning would see the video, since some of the stress of the transition from abundant oil to high-priced oil, with all that it entails, could be mitigated by advanced preparation. Andrew Gaines
24 April 2008
Film review of Power of Community
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I met Roberto at the Australian Permaculture Conference No. 9 over Easter and again up here for his Public talk at the Carrington, and he is very interesting to talk with. There is so much more behind the film and his presentation.
In view of the News Reports over the last few days about food shortages I believe Peak Food is what we should all be concerned about.
We have been living on reserves even in Australia. Did you realise that because dairy farmers have less feed for their cattle the cows are producing less milk? Consequently many farmers are milking less often and this has resulted in a reduction in butter production.
The situation is worse in Third World countries were farmland is being used to produce crops for Biofuel and not food staples for the population. Poor countries are told by the World Bank what they must grow in order to repay their debts.
Cuba may have more to teach us than we expect!
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